Alan Miller: Solid reporting exposes lies and reveals truth

Sunday

Dec 3, 2017 at 5:00 AM

To see a great example of the work by reporters to verify facts, take a look at a recent Washington Post story and the accompanying videos.

It's a story about a woman who called The Post to say she had a hot story to share about how, at age 15, she had conceived a child with Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama who has been accused by other women of sexual harassment or assault.

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It's also a story that illustrates the value of solid reporting, which in this case revealed that the woman, identified as Jaime T. Phillips, was lying to The Post about Moore.

Further, it showed that she was lying because she apparently was working for Project Veritas, a conservative group led by James O'Keefe that produces undercover videos to target journalists. The group tries to goad journalists into revealing biases or unethical schemes to discredit the news media.

In this case, The Post turned the tables on Phillips, O'Keefe and Project Veritas by simply doing its job. You can see the story and videos at http://wapo.st/2jvMq7q.

Reporter Stephanie McCrummen is seen in the first video talking with Phillips in a restaurant. McCrummen mentions the allegation made by Phillips against Moore and then begins asking Phillips about her background — where she has worked and who she works for now. (The company for which Phillips said she worked had no one by that name working there at that time.)

McCrummen pulls out some information about Phillips gathered before the interview.

This is what reporters do. With whatever time they have available before an interview, they conduct background research on potential sources — individuals, organizations and institutions — to arm themselves with information that allows for intelligent questions and to avoid being duped.

McCrummen is calm and professional as she questions Phillips about something she posted on GoFundMe.com about moving to New York:

"I’ve accepted a job to work in the conservative media movement to combat the lies and deceit of the liberal MSM. I’ll be using my skills as a researcher and fact-checker to help our movement. I was laid off from my mortgage job a few months ago and came across the opportunity to change my career path."

McCrummen tells Phillips at least twice that audio and video of their interview is being recorded. Remarkably, Phillips says OK and never asks where in the restaurant The Post has its camera. Instead, she continues to answer questions.

The Post wrote this:

"In a series of interviews over two weeks, the woman shared a dramatic story about an alleged sexual relationship with Moore in 1992 that led to an abortion when she was 15. During the interviews, she repeatedly pressed Post reporters to give their opinions on the effects that her claims could have on Moore’s candidacy if she went public.

"The Post did not publish an article based on her unsubstantiated account. When Post reporters confronted her with inconsistencies in her story and an Internet posting that raised doubts about her motivations, she insisted that she was not working with any organization that targets journalists.

"But on Monday morning, Post reporters saw her walking into the New York offices of Project Veritas, an organization that targets the mainstream news media and left-leaning groups. The organization sets up undercover 'stings' that involve using false cover stories and covert video recordings meant to expose what the group says is media bias."

O’Keefe, who can be seen in a separate video, "declined to answer repeated questions about whether the woman was employed at Project Veritas. He also did not respond when asked if he was working with Moore, former White House adviser and Moore supporter Stephen K. Bannon, or Republican strategists," The Post wrote.

The Post made an unusual decision after reporters observed Phillips entering the Project Veritas office: Its editors decided to publish her previous off-the-record comments.

“We always honor ‘off-the-record’ agreements when they’re entered into in good faith,” said Martin Baron, The Post’s executive editor, in a story The Post published Monday. “But this so-called off-the-record conversation was the essence of a scheme to deceive and embarrass us. The intent by Project Veritas clearly was to publicize the conversation if we fell for the trap. Because of our customary journalistic rigor, we weren’t fooled, and we can’t honor an ‘off-the-record’ agreement that was solicited in maliciously bad faith.”

The world is complicated enough without the misinformation and lies being spread by those who seek to mislead the public or discredit the media. This Washington Post story illustrates the professionalism employed by newspaper reporters and the value of solid news reporting in making sure that truth prevails.

Alan D. Miller is editor of The Dispatch.

amiller@dispatch.com

@dispatcheditor

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